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XenosagaConsole: PS2 Publisher: Namco Gamers across the world have been highly anticipating the arrival of Xenosaga, the RPG prequel to the Playstation fan favorite Xenogears. But the game has received mixed reviews from both magazines and gamers alike. Fans of the original game Xenogears, that was released on the Playstaion may find Xenosaga a disappointment, but that's only if you don't have an open mind. If you're like me, you've been chomping at the bit, foaming at the mouth and generally been waiting with high anticipation, the release of Xenosaga. The first in a series of games which will reveal the background story of the RPG fan favorite Xenogears. Xenosaga's like it's predecessor has a somewhat controversial, storyline that has deeply religious overtones that some might find offensive. But it's that unusual subject which I believe drew in the first generation Xeno fans. But where Xenogears sought to bring out most of it's story in the form of in-game text, Xenosaga brings it's story to light in the form of many cinemas spread throughout the one disc game. This is where most of the complaints come in. While I found the cinemas to be a welcome addition and was more than happy that I didn't have to read snail's pace text, a lot of people thought there were too many cinemas and not enough gameplay. I suppose it's a matter of opinion. But I kinda don't think pressing a button to read more text can be considered actual gameplay, but if someone else likes that kind of tedious crap, I guess they've got a right to complain. My only complaint is that I felt that the colors seemed to be washed out and dull in the FMV sequences. The music in Xenosaga is nothing to write home about. If anything it's a bit forgettable. There are no memorable tunes or orchestration that invoke any kind of feeling for the player. But the music and sound is of decent quality and won't make you want to turn it down, which is a good thing and one thing that no one can complain about is the voice acting. Xenosaga has some of the best voice actors in the anime industry voicing the cinema scenes. I heard actors from Dragon Ball Z, Trigun, and Tenchi Muyo among others and you truly do feel connected to the characters through their acting abilites. Now comes the most important part, the gameplay. Gamplay is pretty standard as far as RPGs go. Xenosaga is a turn-based RPG, which means no active time battles. I found the points system a bit complicated if not confusing. Your characters level up as normal, but in order to increase the strength of your special attacks and character attributes additionally, you receive three types of points in addition to experience. These points can then be used to enhance your charaters stats and can be dispensed as you see fit so it really does allow for customization as you like it once you figure it all out. One of my favorite aspects of an RPG is the sidequests and minigames and there is a good variety of both in Xenosaga. There is a card game, drilling game, a Virtual On-type Mech battle game and a casino. You'll love the casino which has prizes that range from special card packs for the card game, to design sketches from the game designers. To sum it all up, I found Xenosaga to be a good RPG with a deep and involving storyline and fun gameplay but, it in no way compared to the first game in the series and I feel it will probably be a disappointment to fans of Xenogears. However, I think that is because where the creators of Xenosaga meant for Xenogears to be a one shot game because that's what Square wanted. Therefore they had to cram the whole story into one superb title. This time, they have the time to really tell the story in full detail and while that may seem to take away from the game as compared to the first, it really doesn't if you think about it. Now they can tell the story the way it was meant to be told. Just like a good book, I think we can all look forward to the story expanding and growing better in future chapters. Cynthia Threadgill
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